CVE-2018-7701 in SecurMail
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in SecurEnvoy SecurMail before 9.2.501 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of arbitrary users for requests that (1) delete e-mail messages via a delete action in a request to secmail/getmessage.exe or (2) spoof arbitrary users and reply to their messages via a request to secserver/securectrl.exe.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/03/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-7701 represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw affecting SecurEnvoy SecurMail versions prior to 9.2.501. This vulnerability classifies under CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks where an attacker tricks a victim's browser into executing unauthorized actions. The flaw exists within the web application's authentication and authorization mechanisms, creating a pathway for remote attackers to manipulate user sessions without proper authentication.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the absence of proper validation mechanisms in the affected endpoints. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious web pages or email attachments that, when visited by an authenticated user, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable endpoints. The two primary attack vectors involve the secmail/getmessage.exe endpoint for message deletion operations and the secserver/securectrl.exe endpoint for spoofing and replying to messages. These endpoints lack adequate anti-CSRF token validation or session consistency checks that would normally prevent unauthorized requests from being processed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted. An attacker who successfully exploits these CSRF flaws can compromise user email accounts by deleting messages without authorization, potentially leading to data loss or information tampering. More critically, the ability to spoof users and reply to their messages enables sophisticated social engineering attacks where attackers can impersonate legitimate users, manipulate communication flows, and potentially gain access to sensitive information. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and can lead to complete account compromise, as demonstrated by the ATT&CK framework's T1566 technique for Phishing and T1078 for Valid Accounts.
The exploitation of this vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK tactics including privilege escalation and persistence through session hijacking. Attackers can leverage these CSRF vulnerabilities to establish long-term access to email accounts, potentially using compromised accounts as entry points for further network infiltration. The affected SecurEnvoy SecurMail system fails to implement proper request origin validation, making it susceptible to attacks that bypass standard authentication controls. Organizations using affected versions face significant risk of unauthorized data manipulation and potential data exfiltration through the spoofing capability.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching to version 9.2.501 or later, which addresses the CSRF validation gaps in the affected endpoints. Additionally, implementing proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms, enforcing strict origin validation headers, and deploying web application firewalls can provide layered protection. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments of their web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities, as this issue demonstrates the importance of validating all user requests and implementing robust session management controls. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical need for proper authentication validation and the potential consequences of inadequate CSRF protection in enterprise email systems.